More Than Just Sonic Heroes
by Krissey-da-Cougar
Summary: It's Christmas Break, and Bridget, Rachael, Mika, and Raquel find themselves thrown into another adventure, along with some new friends, as well. But with a new game, comes new rules, and a dark mystery as well. Sequel to Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Mixup.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone has a purpose. Hopefully, that's been firmly established in your mind because believe it or not, it's true. Every single being on this planet has a destiny to fulfill…for some, it's a small act of kindness that will forever change another person's life. For others, it may be a bigger concept—like saving someone's life one day…or saving both sides of an entire planet…

Yes, I pray that you, my reader, have read about Destiny, Mika, Bridget, Rachael, Raquel, KT, Kogome, and Tia's adventure. But sadly, some of them aren't in on this new journey. What with being on Christmas Break and all…and let me tell you, reader: anything can happen on Christmas Break…

Anything.

………………..

Shelby tapped her fingers against the wooden desk impatiently.

_Oh, come on, Luke! Finish writing, already!_ She thought, casting occasional glances to her right. After confirming that he WAS still writing, she finally rested her head in her hand, listening to her Language Arts teacher talk endlessly.

"…and these events in the story we call 'falling action'…" the teacher rambled on.

_Ugh…_ Shelby rolled her hazel eyes. _I can't believe it's the last day of school before Christmas break and she's STILL teaching!_

Just then, she felt a tap on her arm. Without looking, Shelby straightened her back, reached down, and took the note from Luke.

She carefully opened it and read:

Gosh….when does it end?

Shelby smirked and wrote: In one second.

She secretly handed it back, and watched her friend read the note. Luke seemed confused. He looked up just as the bell rung—confirming her statement.

The eighth grader felt a smile spread on her face as she thought, _I just love it when I'm right!_

Luke smiled as well, standing up and gathering his things. Shelby walked the few steps to his desk and said, "Well…?"

The black-haired boy's smile grew. "All right…all right…you're good."

Shelby then leaned over with her ear facing him. "Could you say it again? I don't think I heard."

Luke gave her a look that said, 'nice try.' "C'mon, ego pants. Let's get out of here."

Shelby smirked. "Whatever. You should just consider yourself lucky that the teacher didn't catch our notes."

Luke rolled his cobalt eyes. "So what?"

"So? C'mon, Luke!" Shelby turned around so then she was facing the fourteen-year-old boy as they continued walking down the hall. "Everyone here knows about you and your bad luck!"

"Hey! It's not bad luck! Besides, there's no such thing as 'luck,'" Luke pointed out to the one-year-younger-than-him girl.

Now it was Shelby's turn to roll her eyes. "Whatever you have to tell yourself," she said, turning around once more so they could exit the building.

"It's the truth!" Luke argued.

"If it is, why are you walking straight into a tree?" Shelby challenged.

"I am not!" and to prove his point, Luke took a step to his right to avoid the 'tree'—but ended up walking straight into the one Shelby was talking about.

The light-brown haired girl crossed her arms over her chest. "See?"

Luke pointed a finger at Shelby, with his face still against the bark. His muffled voice said, "You tricked me!"

The girl only shrugged. "So what if I did? That still doesn't prove that you're not bad-luck infected."

Luke pulled himself away from the tree, as the two began walking again. A blanket of silence fell over them as he rubbed his nose. Finally, he muttered, "I hate my life…"

Shelby's arms dropped to her sides. She tried to find some words of encouragement, but all she could say was, "Don't worry, Luke. Someday, something really lucky will happen. You just wait and see."

That did the trick. The teenager looked at her and said, "You're right. Thanks, Shelby."

"What are friends for?" Shelby smiled and winked.

But suddenly, the smile faded. Shelby froze, her hazel eyes wide with discomfort. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, her face a lighter shade of peach. Luke noticed this, and stopped walking as well, turning around to face his friend.

"What's wrong, Shelby?" he asked.

"Don't you feel it?" she whispered.

Luke was confused. "Feel what?"

Shelby's hazel eyes looked to her right and left, as if to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Then, she mumbled in the same quiet tone, "Like we're being watched."

At first, Luke thought his friend had gone crazy. He looked around them, but found nobody. "It's probably your imagination," he said finally.

Shelby pondered this, the color in her face slowly returning. He might be right…after all, she was known at school for being a daydreamer; always dreaming about adventure.

No. She couldn't shake it. Someone was watching them. She was positive.

Firmly, she shook her head, the hairs on the back of her neck still on end. "This time, it's not me. I'm sure of it."

Luke debated. Could Shelby be right? Was someone really watching them? Was it his bad luck that had brought this upon them?

Silence lasted. No one said anything, and it seemed like no one was breathing. Finally, Luke shook his head. "There's no one watching us, Shelby. Take a breather."

With that, he continued walking.

Shelby, not totally convinced, lingered behind a little, her head swinging back and forth to make sure. Finally, she ran to catch up with Luke to change the subject.

But behind them, somewhere high in the leafless trees, sat a shadowed figure. It let out a sigh of relief, inwardly kicking itself for being so careless. It had a job to do, and it intended to do it at all costs.

"That was too close."

"So…you going anywhere for vacation?"

Rachael and Bridget walked down the sidewalk as snowflakes rested in their hair. Both of them were excited to have a vacation, needless to say.

"Actually, yes. We got an invitation to go to Florida at some nice hotel…I think it's near Vero Beach, or something…" Bridget answered.

Rachael had to restrain herself from jumping with joy. "Really? Me too!"

"You guys got an invite?" Bridget asked.

Her friend nodded.

"Way past cool!" the blonde-haired 12-year-old exclaimed.

Rachael laughed. "I know who you learned that from!"

The two stopped abruptly in silence, memories instantly flooding back into their minds.

Bridget smirked, and slowly continued walking. "Yeah…I do, too…"

Rachael giggled. "Of course you would, silly! Why wouldn't you remember who taught you something?"

Her friend blushed. "Because…I'd have bad memory?" she guessed blindly.

Rachael laughed, and soon Bridget joined in. But the teenager stopped, an idea coming to her mind.

"Hey…Bridge…do you think the others got the invite as well?" Rachael inquired.

Bridget thought a minute. "Well…I know KT can't come because he left early to go skiing at some resort with his family…"

"Yeah…what about Tia?"

"She skipped today because they were going to Hawaii."

"Destiny?"

"She might…"

"Raquel?"

"Most likely."

"Mika?"

"Hopefully!"

"Kogome?"

"Left to go to Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg," Bridget answered.

"That sounds fun!" Rachael exclaimed.

"Yeah…I just wish I knew if the others were going…" Bridget said, thoughtfully.

"Going where?"

Bridget and Rachael screamed, turning around. To their surprise, there stood one of the well-known tomboys at school, Torrin.

"Oh…hi, Torrin!" Bridget greeted with slight wave.

A shadow crossed over the dark brown haired teenager's face. "Don't call me 'Torrin'. It's either 'Rin', 'Rina', or you do not abide by my rules and I murder you."

Bridget and Rachael exchanged nervous glances.

"Okay…well…um…Rin…it was nice seeing you today—have a great Christmas Va—"

"Not so fast, Bridget!" Torrin interrupted.

The 12-year-old froze, her hand on her friend's arm.

"Answer my question: where were you hoping the 'others' were going?" Torrin asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

Rachael sighed. "We were hoping are other friends were going to Florida as well as us…"

"Florida? Where in Florida?"

"We think Vero Beach. Can't remember."

Torrin nodded, and then turned to look at Bridget who instinctively hid behind her sandy-blonde haired friend.

"Now…was it that hard, Rachael, to answer my question?" she asked. "Or is it just that your friend here is a scardy-cat?"

"Don't talk about Bridget that way!" Rachael barked.

Torrin raised her eyebrows as if she were impressed. "So…you defend your cowardly friend?"

"She's not a coward!" Rachael fired back.

"Oh, she isn't? Then how come she hides behind you like a shadow?"

Rachael and Bridget felt a shiver go down their spine at the word. Torrin noticed this.

"Something wrong with what I said, idiots?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong! Just leave us alone! You know nothing, Rin!" Bridget yelled.

Silence.

"So…the scardy-cat can talk…"

"You bet I can!" Bridget stood in front of Rachael, now.

"Then can you explain why you are such a coward?"

"Be quiet, Rin!" Rachael blurted, coming to stand beside her friend. "You don't know what we've been through—so I—"

Torrin narrowed her forest green eyes. "Try me."

Bridget grabbed Rachael's arm. "No—try us!" And in the snap of two fingers, the friends were gone.

Torrin blinked. How did they…?

"That does it!" She stomped through the inches deep snow, following the direction where she thought they went. "Those guys are hiding something—and I'm going to figure out what!"

"WHOA, NELLIE!"

Bridget then came to a stop, and just fell into the snow, laughing her head off. Rachael stood up, a bit wobbly, but was able to stare at her friend in shock.

"How…did…you…do that?" she asked, panting. "The only time you could run THAT fast was in Sonic's world…."

Bridget smiled up at her. "That's my secret."

Rachael put her hands on her hips. "Okay…spill."

The blonde haired girl then sat up and began her tale. "Well…actually, it was Mira's idea. She got the idea of how time didn't pass when we were gone because of the alternate dimensions…"

"Somebody's been doing their homework!" Rachael joked, unintentionally crossing her arms over her chest.

Bridget gave a few laughs before continuing. "And now…the reason why I can still run fast is because…" With a snicker, she pulled out a familiar purple jewel from her coat…

"A CHAOS EMERALD?" Rachael nearly flipped, her arms falling to her sides. "BRIDGET!"

Her friend only laughed. "Calm down, Rachael! I didn't get it the way you thought I did!"

Rachael blinked her sapphire eyes a few times. "What do you mean?"

"This emerald…came with the invitation to go to Vero Beach!"

Everything was a blur.

She couldn't understand anything. The only thing she knew was that she had to get away from…from…

…**_it._**

It had no name, and it certainly didn't deserve one. It was only a black nothingness that followed her everywhere she went. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't loose it. It was like her shadow. A horrifying shadow.

She had been here before. She remembered it distinctly…and what was going to happen frightened her. How she prayed with her whole heart that it wouldn't happen…but just as the thoughts entered her mind, she tripped.

_NO! _her mind screamed. It was all happening again…

She turned over on her back and looked above her, seeing the horrifying black abyss. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. All she could do was gape at the…thing…towering over her…

…and then, she saw them…

They were there again. Her friends. Standing there, glowing with a pure essence, looking as if they were royalty.

And then, it happened once more.

The black nothingness raised an unformed part of itself, which Mika could guess was its hand, and in it, suddenly, formed a dagger.

_NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! _Mika's mind yelled.

Her heart was beating at a rapid pace as she saw it over her. She tried to find her voice, in hope that she could before it was too late.

Finally, as it was about to strike her, she yelled, "Please! Stop!"

Mika closed her sky blue eyes tight, accepting her fate…but it never came. Instead, she was surprised to hear a familiar adult male voice command, "Mika, WAKE UP!"

Mika's eyes shot open like a lightning bolt, and she instantly sat straight up in her chair, her breathing harsh. The class burst into laughter, and the now 12-year-old felt embarrassed.

She dared to look up, seeing her 6 grade history teacher, Mr. Lance, staring at her with stern brown eyes. She immediately looked away.

"Mika Kurosawa, I would like to speak to you after class," he said firmly.

Mika hesitantly nodded. "Yes, sir." She felt like she was about to cry. She hated getting in trouble.

Mr. Lance nodded, and walked back to the front of the class. As they learned more about Europe, Mika could feel taunting glances being shot at her. She felt like she wanted to disappear. Slowly, she hunched over and slid down in her seat, hoping the glances would go away, but they wouldn't.

Every day it was the same thing…she'd fall asleep in history, and have that horrid dream. Everyone would laugh at her, and make fun of her for it; but little did they know the story behind it…

Mika sighed. She looked around, making sure nobody was watching, and then pulled her dark blue sleeve slightly back. Almost like a habit, her fingers started rubbing against the gold surface of Shadow's bracelet.

Once again, she sighed. She almost wished that they hadn't gone to Sonic's world. Almost. Before they had, she had been so shy; she hadn't been noticed by anybody. She barely spoke to anyone, only her friends. And now…she almost wished that she had that 'secret life' back.

It's hard keeping a secret about your crush on somebody, but it's even harder keeping a secret that you saved the world.

Mika could feel a smile cross her face. Yep. She was a hero. And so were her friends: KT, Rachael, Bridget, Destiny, Raquel, Kogome, and Tia. She had to keep herself from laughing at the jokes her mind was telling her.

_Student by day…hero by night…_

_Nobody knows that a hero is sitting among them in this classroom—the exact person who saved their lives._

_Nobody knows that I was friends with the fastest hedgehog himself._

_Nobody knows that I fell in love with another speedy hedgehog, too._

Mika sat up straight in her chair, as that thought hit her hard.

_Nobody knew what it felt like to know your love died to save the lives of many._

_Nobody knew what if felt like to have your last hope of them living crushed._

_Nobody knew. And nobody knows._

Mika looked around her, biting her lip. What was she thinking? She was only 12! And she had already fallen in love with someone; for a split second, the pre-teen felt ashamed…but another voice in her head soon said:

_**Do not worry. Your love is something that is precious. Hold on to it tightly. It's going to be a bumpy ride.**_

At that, she smiled, straitening herself. The voice was right. Her love _was_ precious…but wait. Mika hunched back over, her mind once again reeling. But what did the voice mean? She was never going to see Shadow again! What did it mean by "it's going to be a bumpy ride"? Wasn't the ride "over"?

The 12 year old was so deep in thought that she hardly heard the bell ring. It wasn't until she saw the kids all around her packing their stuff and standing up, that she finally took notice. Immediately, Mika packed her books in her single-shoulder strap light blue bag, and headed towards Mr. Lance's desk. She kept her long blonde haired head low, and awaited what he would say.

Mr. Lance wrote a few more things down on a notebook. Then, he looked up, taking his reading glasses off. He sighed, before saying, "Mika…I don't know what to say…"

The pre-teen kept quiet.

"I guess all that I can say is that I'm worried for you…your grades are doing amazingly well, even though you've been falling asleep so many times in my class. But that's not what makes me concerned…it's what you do in your dreams," Mr. Lance got her attention.

But still, the girl said nothing.

"It sounds horrible…your face twists like you're in a lot of pain, you pant heavily as if you were running as fast as you could, you twitch every once in a while, and then when towards the end, you start crying out, Mika. What's happened that's causing you to have these dreams?"

The blonde paused.

"Mika?"

Finally, she mumbled quietly, "I can't tell you."

"What?"

Mika took a deep breath, and looked up. "Mr. Lance…I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but I can't."

The history teacher stared at her a while. Mika held her breath, until to her surprise, he said, "I understand. Pre-teens like you never want to open up to teachers like me." With a sigh, he waved his hand, putting his reading glasses back on. "Go ahead…have a great Christmas Break…"

Mika's mouth slightly opened, not believing her luck. With that, she turned around, beaming. As she walked to the doorway, she saw Raquel, along with a new friend of theirs, named Michael, waiting for her.

"Looks like you got lucky," Michael commented.

Mika smiled. "Yep."

"I'm just glad you didn't have to tell him!" Raquel breathed.

Mika nodded. "Me too."

Michael looked back and forth between the two females. Out of the three of them, he was the oldest and tallest, and that gave him a privilege to see the looks they'd give each other.

"Okay…I don't get it…" he began as they walked towards Mika's locker. Raquel and Michael's stuff was already put away; they had no homework over Christmas break. "Why is this dream causing you guys to be so…" he struggled to find the word.

"Cautious?" Raquel guessed.

"No."

"Paranoid?" Mika inquired, closing her locker door.

"No."

"Secretive?" the two girls asked in unison.

"Yeah! I mean, you've told me about your dream, so why can't you tell anyone else?" Michael walked between them as they headed down the now-empty hallway.

The girls sighed.

"You don't know the full story…" Mika whispered under her breath while looking away.

Michael didn't hear. "What?"

"We'd rather not talk about it…" Raquel informed quickly.

"C'mon. You two know I hate secrets, and I know you two are hiding one!" the teenager exclaimed.

_Yeah, an awfully big one,_ Mika thought, once again rubbing her fingers against Shadow's bracelet.

Michael noticed this. "Whoa, what's that?" he asked, reaching out for it.

But the reaction he got was not what he thought he'd get.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Mika barked, holding her arm away.

All three of them stopped walking. By now, they were outside, where snow was gently falling.

"Whoa…overreacting, don't you think, M?" Michael asked, using his nickname for her.

Mika just glared at him, waiting for him to change the subject so she could trust that he would not reach for it again.

"Why won't you let me see it? It's not like its special or anything…it's just a bracelet…"

Mika trembled slightly. "Not special? Just a bracelet!"

"Mika…" Raquel called.

In response, the girl looked behind Michael, and saw her friend giving her a look with her hazel eyes that said, 'he doesn't know—don't listen to him.'

Once again, Michael looked between the two. "Okay…now I REALLY want to know what you two are hiding from me, and if you don't tell me"-- In a flash, he had pulled the bracelet off of Mika's wrist, and held it in both hands – "then the 'special' bracelet breaks."

"NO!" Mika went into a frenzy; she tried to grab it from her friend, but he was too tall, and held it up where she couldn't reach it. "PLEASE! GIVE IT BACK!"

Raquel gasped.

"I'm not going to give it back, unless you tell me the secret—and if you refuse, then it will break!" the older one challenged.

"NO! PLEASE, NO!" Mika kept screaming as she jumped and did whatever she thought possible to get the bracelet.

"Then tell me why this bracelet is so special!" Michael exclaimed.

"IT'S THE LAST THING I HAVE OF HIM!" the pre-teen cried, not even thinking about what she was saying. All she wanted was it back.

"MIKA!" Raquel cried at the top of her lungs, but it was no use. Her friend was in a blind rage.

"Who?" Michael inquired.

"SHADOW! Now--!" Mika stopped jumping, and froze, gasping and realizing what she had done.

Raquel couldn't say anything as her hazel eyes widened.

"Shadow?" Michael repeated.

No answer.

"Tell me: what 'Shadow' are we talking about?" Michael questioned.

No answer.

"M—"

"GO AHEAD!" Mika finally blurted, cheeks streaming down her cheeks. "Break it! Break the bracelet if you must, but I can't tell you ANYTHING!"

Raquel was shocked.

Michael stared at his friend long and hard. Finally, he said, "It's that black hedgehog, isn't it? THAT'S the Shadow that you're talking about."

Mika sobbed, feeling a mixture of guilt and loss.

The older one brought the object down so he could see it with his brown eyes clearly. "But…how can that be? You must be insane, because Shadow isn't real."

Raquel bit her lip. It was obvious Mika wasn't going to say anything, so it was her decision. Should they tell Michael or not? Well…Shadow's bracelet was what hung in the balance, and even she didn't want that to break.

"Mike…" she began, walking up to him. "For a minute, just look at the sky."

"…'kay…" the older one did as told.

"Even though it is still around 4 p.m., you can still see the moon, right?"

"Yeah…but that's because it's winter. The sun sets earlier in this season than in summer."

"Right. But just look at the moon."

"Okay…but I don't see what you're getting at…"

"Just stare at it. Focus on it."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Michael pouted, but waited, staring at the moon. Nothing was happening; he couldn't understand what his friend was talking about. And just as that thought crossed his mind, something did indeed happen.

A part of the moon dissolved from view!

"HOLY PYJAMAS!" he exclaimed. "WHAT HAPPENED?"

"You should know that," Mika said coldly. "You play the Sonic Games all the time."

"Wait a sec…but that's impossible! If what happened in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle did happen…then everyone should know about it!" Michael looked down at his friends.

"What you're seeing, Michael, is Sonic's side of the moon," Raquel informed.

"…say WHAT?"

"What she means is that there are TWO sides to Earth: one, which is our side, and two, which is Sonic's side," Mika clarified.

Silence.

"Okay, now I know that you two are OFFICIALLY crazy!" Michael was about to walk off, when Raquel cleared her throat.

"What?" the boy looked behind him at the light brown haired girl.

"Shadow's bracelet…?" Mika held her hand out.

Michael looked at the gold object in his hand. Reluctantly, he walked back towards them, still staring at it.

Once he reached them, they could hear him mumble, "How did you meet him?"

Mika and Raquel exchanged smiling glances.

"Let's just say it was—"

"—the same way you met me!"

Fear struck all three of them at the sound of the new voice. Used to this action, Mika and Raquel instantly turned around, half of them prepared, the other too frightened to move.

And who they saw didn't help them, either.

"Dr. Eggman!" Mika and Raquel screamed.

Michael was too stunned to speak.

The fat man grinned while he sat in his walker. "Greetings MJ and Krystal…I was hoping I'd find you here…"

_MJ? Krystal? Who is he talking to?_ Michael thought.

On the other hand, Raquel and Mika were worried for other reasons.

"Mika…he knows who we are in human form!" Raquel whispered.

"I know! And what's even worse—he knows how to get here from Sonic's side! He can come over here whenever he wants!" Mika whispered back.

The doctor 's evil grin. "I'm afraid there isn't any time to chat, girls. I've a plan to carry out—and I must make sure you and your friends don't get in my way again."

Michael's brown eyes widened. _They stopped Eggman as well? Wait…the moon…_

Despite their fears, Mika and Raquel gave grins as well.

"Keep dreamin' Eggy," Mika announced.

The nickname seemed to go in on ear and out the other, for the doctor didn't move a muscle.

_That's strange…_ Raquel thought.

"Enough chit-chat. Let's go!" With that, Eggman's walker unleashed two metallic claws that resembled those of a crab.

Michael felt his legs go weak, but Raquel and Mika prepared themselves.

Eggman just laughed. "Fear me? You'd better!"

Michael felt his grip tighten on the bracelet in his hand. Raquel and Mika seemed to sense his fear, for they looked behind them.

Raquel was the first to speak "Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you."

"Yeah!" Mika agreed. "Just leave the fighting to us."

Michael wasn't so sure about that. It felt odd to be protected by two girls younger than him…

Without warning, Eggman launched out one of his claws at Raquel. The small-for-her-age girl quickly dogged with a side step.

Eggman then sent the other one flying towards Mika. She side stepped as well, and as a result, the claw was firmly stuck in the ground.

"Ha! You may be able to dodge, but you won't be able to cause any damage!" the madman claimed.

It was then the two knew the awful truth. They exchanged glances, brainstorming.

"How are we going to beat him?" Raquel asked the question that was in both of their minds.

Mika felt sweat start to dampen her long blonde hair. She had an idea, but she wasn't too sure it would work. If Michael DID see Sonic's side of the moon…was it possible…?

The 12-year-old was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Raquel scream. She lifted her eyes to see her friend clutching her right arm in pain, the claw that had attacked her swinging in the air.

And Eggman only laughed.

_It's now or never, Mika! Let's do it to it!_ She told herself. Gathering up her courage and strength, Mika backed up, and then ran full throttle towards the claw that was stuck in the ground.

"Hey, Egghead!" she cried. "Watch this!"

All attention was suddenly fixed upon her as she jumped on the mechanical arm and did a flip.

Then, it was as if time had stopped.

Mika closed her eyes, recalling Sonic's dimension. She remembered being her fancharacter, and all the adventures that she had encountered with her friends…and she remembered Shadow. Before her closed sky blue eyes, she saw everything again: Earth, the colony ARK, the Biolizard, the Master Emerald…and then…

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?" she heard Michael cry.

"All right, MJ!" Raquel cheered.

_MJ…? Oh my gosh! It worked!_ Mika opened her now ice blue eyes as she landed on the ground, no longer human.

She was a white seal once more. But not just any seal wearing an orange T-shirt, blue jean shorts, sky blue and white tennis shoes, and long flowing white hair. No, she was her fancharacter. MJ the Seal.

"Impossible!" Eggman gasped.

MJ felt a smile overcome her face as she stood up. "When will you learn that nothing's impossible, doc?"

The seal winked at Raquel, and her friend gave a thumbs-up, having forgotten about the scar on her arm.

"YOU may be able to defeat me, but your friend here, won't!" Eggman then launched his other claw at Raquel again, but the girl quickly turned around, and ran towards the snow-covered tree behind her.

"Come back here!" the doctor exclaimed, redirecting the arm to follow her.

But Raquel was quicker, and reached up with both hands to grab a limb above. Using all her momentum, she swung herself upward, narrowly missing the claw. She then did a flip, swinging herself completely over the branch. As she landed, her figure changed, and MJ watched her friend become the white hedgehog, wearing a sky blue gown with white neck cuffs, sky blue and black shoes and black bangs covering her left eye, she once knew from what seemed like a faint dream.

Michael was too stunned to speak. Everything was happening too fast! The first thing he knew was that his friends were their normal human selves—but now they were a seal and a hedgehog!

"Well…it seems that Krystal wants to join the party as well, hum?" Eggman scowled.

"When it comes down to it, I'm a party animal!" the now-Krystal stood up.

Michael stepped back, frightened. It was like his friends were possessed!

"Well, then. I guess it's time to get this 'party' started!" Eggman raised both of the crab-like metallic claws threateningly.

In return, Krystal and MJ got in defensive positions. There was no way they could back down on their promise to Michael—let alone just hand him over to the fat creep in front of them!

Michael, on the other hand, was having problems of his own. He didn't want to admit he was scared; he convinced himself he wasn't. But he couldn't stop himself from gripping the bracelet in his hands like it was life itself.

And before he knew it, the fight began.

Shelby stopped again in the snow as she heard a sound. Or make that sound_s_.

"NOW what?" Luke turned around, agitated.

"I heard something!" Shelby informed.

_At least THAT'S more likely to believe!_ The black-haired boy thought as he strained his ear to hear what his friend currently was.

Nothing.

He waited for a while, but still couldn't hear anything. Finally, he straightened his back, about to tell Shelby to keep walking, when she suddenly ran past him!

"Whoa--!" was all he got out. He turned around to see the fading figure of his friend running away.

"Shelby!" he called, but she didn't hear.

Luke rolled his cobalt eyes, muttering a "why me", before running after his friend.

Torrin stomped her way along the snow-covered sidewalk, when she saw the exact two people she was looking for before in front of her. She grinned, and stopped, trying to listen to their conversation. She couldn't hear. All she saw were a few worried glances, and a few determined looks here and there. But finally, they broke out into a run away from her.

"What?" she cried. _How did they know I was there?_

Torrin didn't give herself time to answer. Instead, she ran also, following Bridget and Rachael, to, what she didn't know, was an adventure.

Michael kicked frantically, trying to get out of the claw's grasp. He couldn't remember how it happened; the only thing he knew was that he had to get free.

Krystal kicked away the other claw again, feeling like she should kick herself instead. She and MJ both had made the statement that they would protect Michael. Shows how reliable THEY are!

MJ yelled at Michael, but he wouldn't pay attention. He was caught in a blind panic, so to speak.

"Mike! Stop squirming!" she shouted, but it was to no avail.

The seal shook her head in frustration, but wasn't about to give up. She cuffed her hands around her mouth as she yelled once more, "Mike, stop—"

"MJ?"

MJ turned around and saw, to her surprise, Bridget and Rachael standing there. She smiled. "Hey guys!"

But it wasn't her they were staring at, now. It was the walker and who was in it behind her that had their attention.

MJ shrugged, and turned around again to focus once more on the task at hand. She kept shouting at her friend, but he wouldn't listen.

Meanwhile, Bridget and Rachael stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding before them.

"Am I dreaming…? Or is this real?" Bridget whispered.

Rachael held out her arm without looking. "Pinch me."

Bridget did as told.

"OW! It was just a joke! I didn't mean it!" Rachael clutched her hurting arm.

Her friend only shrugged. "Sorry."

Rachael then turned to face the fight again, running the sore spot on her arm. "You're pinches hurt…ow…" _Definitely wearing green on St. Patrick's Day next year!_ She added silently.

Suddenly, Bridget felt someone bump into her from behind. The push caused her to stumble forward, towards the fight.

"Hey! Watch it!" the person yelled.

Rachael turned to her right to see who had run into her friend. It was Torrin.

"Rin, YOU watch it!" she exclaimed.

"It's your fault you guys were standing there!" Torrin fired back.

Rachael substituted her retort with a glare. Torrin glared as well.

Bridget, meanwhile, had problems of her own; because of the push, she found herself about to run into MJ. Quickly, she stopped herself, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw she had succeeded.

"Phew…" she whipped the sweat away from her forehead.

MJ heard her, and turned around. She smiled, and waved, despite the danger that was behind her. "Hi, again!"

"Hi!" Bridget greeted, at first cheerfully, but then her grip on reality began to kick in. "So…what's going on?"

"What does it look like?" MJ's retort was quick.

Bridget paused, knowing her friend was right. Eggman was here, on their side of earth. How? _Save that for another time, Bridge!_ She reminded herself, and then continued. Mika was now MJ, Raquel was now Krystal, and Mike was….Mike.

_Wait a sec…_Bridget paused her thoughts. _Mike's here?_

The blonde girl then lifted her head, just in time to have a gold bracelet smack her in the face and tumble to the ground.

"OW!" she complained, holding her nose.

She looked to the white snow below her, and saw the gold of Shadow's bracelet shining, as if greeting her. On instinct, she reached down to grab it, forgetting about her bruised nose. But just as her fingers got a grip on it, she heard another voice cry, "WHAT IN THE WORLD?"

Bridget turned her head to see, coming from the other direction, Shelby and Luke standing there with wide, unbelieving eyes. Without thinking, she ran over, and then came to a halt in front of the two. They stared at her, with the same expressions.

Again, without giving another thought, Bridget began to improvise, waving her hands in front of her face as she said, "You don't see anything."

Luke was the first to snap himself out of his shock. He shook his head and blinked his cobalt eyes as if he had just woken up. After blinking yet another time, he saw the gold object Bridget held.

"Why are you holding a bracelet?" he suddenly asked.

Bridget then stopped waving her hands, her face evidently showing that the 'light bulb' had turned on. "Oh, yeah! I completely forgot!" With that, she turned around. Just as she was about to head back and hand MJ the bracelet, she saw the seal get caught by Eggman's other mechanical claw.

She gasped. "MJ!"

Her cry broke the glares Rachael and Torrin were firing at each other. They both turned in time to see Bridget running towards the claw that grasped the seal.

Krystal got up from her place on the ground. _No…_she thought. _He'll leave any moment, now…_

It was then that Shelby broke from her trance, and ran towards the claw as well.

"Shelby!" Luke called, running after her.

As Bridget reached MJ, the claw was moved upward, just out of her reach.

"No!" she yelled as she heard the rockets on the end of the walker's feet turn on.

Eggman laughed. "I'm afraid I don't have room for you on this trip, Shani!"

Torrin was confused. _Shani?_

"MJ!" Bridget jumped up as high as she could, but it was no use. Her friend was being carried away.

Krystal, meanwhile, wasted no time. While no one paid attention to her, she quickly ran over to the flying walker, and jumped, managing to get a strong hold on it. No one noticed.

"MJ!" Bridget yelled again.

MJ made no response; she could only watch as her friend started fading from view and listen to as her voice got quieter and quieter. She felt tears start to silently cascade down her cheeks. What was going to happen to her now? Where was Eggman taking her? Would she ever see her side of earth again?

It was at that moment, that MJ the Seal felt fear like she had never known it before.

"MJ!" Bridget called one last time before falling to her knees in despair.

She felt Shadow's bracelet fall from her fingers, and looked down at it once more. Picking it up, Bridget stared at its golden surface, seeing her reflection upon it…such a hurt and lonely reflection…

She then held the bracelet close, feeling like it was the last thing she had of her friend. And for some odd, unexplainable reason, she felt like it was her fault Mika and Michael were gone.

Shelby slowed down as she neared Bridget. She wasn't completely sure what she was doing, but she went ahead and knelt down beside her in the snow, hugging her.

Luke slowed down as well, but stood standing. He watched as Shelby comforted Bridget, and then found his cobalt eyes trailing to the sky. Nothing was there; it was as if nothing had happened at all. _Puzzling…_was all he thought.

"Who was that?"

Everyone turned to see Torrin and Rachael walk up to them.

"That was Dr. Eggman…" Bridget replied, sniffing and rubbing a finger under her nose.

"…and by the looks of it, you haven't played the Sonic games," Rachael continued, turning to the dark brown haired girl beside her and placing her hands on her hips.

Torrin narrowed her forest green eyes. "For your information, yes I have!"

"Then how come you didn't know that was him?"

Torrin turned a complete 90 degrees and said, "Look, coward. I don't need someone always questioning me the 'whys'. I have my reasons, and my reasons are a good enough answer!"

Rachael glared at her, about to retort, when Shelby interrupted.

"We don't need a fight right now!" she said firmly.

Rachael and Torrin turned back to the kneeling light brown haired girl, still ready to fire a comeback at each other if needed.

"Shelby's right, you know," Luke informed. "I don't know what in the world was going on, but I'd sure like to find out!"

"No need…" Bridget informed quietly. "I know, already."

Rachael noticed the depression in her best friend's voice, and knelt down to her level, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Bridge…we'll get them back."

"But how?" Bridget looked into her friend's sapphire eyes. "I mean, they're back in Sonic's dimension by now!"

"…and that one white hedgehog is gone, too!" Luke pointed out.

Everyone looked around them, and realized the teenager was right.

"Yeah…who were they?" Shelby questioned, now standing up.

"The white hedgehog, believe it or not, was Raquel Martinez. The white seal was Mika Kurosawa," Rachael informed.

"What?" Luke, Shelby and even Torrin's face showed that they were majorly confused.

"You mean the small, light brown haired, kinda tan, Raquel?" Luke questioned.

"And the long blonde haired, fair, used to be shy, Mika?" Shelby asked.

Bridget and Rachael exchanged smiling glances.

"Yep. That's them, all right," Rachael confirmed, turning back to look at the three.

"Then how in the world did they do that?" Shelby exclaimed, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Silence.

Rachael and Bridget exchanged pondering glances. They stared at each other, as if the other could give them the answer just by a look. Suddenly, Rachael's face started to light up.

"It was the same way you ran Shani's speed!" she said eagerly.

_Who IS this Shani? _Torrin thought, but remained quiet as the two talked it out.

Bridget furrowed her eyebrows. "But they didn't have a chaos emerald!"

"No, silly! I mean the disturbance in the veil!"

Then, it was Bridget's turn for her face to start beaming. "Rachael! You're a genius!"

The girl gave a slight bow. "Why, thank you!"

After hearing silence behind them, the two turned around to be met with three very confused faces staring at them.

Bridget cleared her throat. "…you want answers, don't you?"

"Is it THAT hard to figure out?" Torrin burst.

"Not if you turn down your volume!" Rachael retorted.

Torrin stepped forward, about to punch Rachael in the face. The sandy blonde haired girl stood, up, ready to take on the fight. But just as it was about to begin, a single arm shot between the two.

It was Shelby.

"How many times to I have to tell you guys that what we don't need are fights?" she inquired sternly.

Hesitantly, both let their arms fall to their sides. But their eyes met, and glared daggers at each other.

Shelby sighed, shaking her head.

Bridget, seeing the weight of the situation on Shelby, quickly spoke up. "How about I tell you guys everything we know so then we can rescue Mike, MJ, and Krystal?"

"What?" Luke exclaimed. "We're going on a rescue mission?"

Shelby's face instantly went from frustrated, to excitement. "Really?"

"Of course!" Bridget said, but immediately turned to her best friend. "Aren't we?"

Rachael smiled. "Yep!"

"But HOW? I mean, we don't even know where they are yet!" Luke told them.

"You will once we tell you the story!" Bridget answered.

Torrin rolled her eyes. "One thing, idiot: we don't even have any way to get to where ever they are."

Bridget's heart sank, but Rachael spoke up happily. "Yes we do!"

Everyone turned to stare at the sandy blonde haired girl, surprised.

"We do?" Bridget asked.

Her best friend nodded. "Remember the letter?"

Bridget's heart soared. "OH YEAH!"

"I get the feeling we need to hear the whole story, so then everyone here can know what you guys are talking about," Shelby said.

"Oh, this part is pretty easy to understand," Rachael informed. "You see, me and Bridget—"

"Bridget and _I_," Torrin intervened, a smug grin on her face.

Rachael glared at her rival, before continuing, "Fine. Bridget and _I_ both got a letter from someone in Vero Beach, inviting us there for four days. But in Bridget's letter, there was a chaos emerald!"

Bridget smiled, and nodded. "In other words, the guy who invited us knows how to get to Sonic's side of earth!"

Silence.

But then, Luke abruptly shattered it by saying, "Yeah, we DEFINITELY need to hear the whole story."

Rachael and Bridget exchanged almost-laughing glances. Finally, Rachael sat down, taking control of the situation. "Okay, okay…sit down, sit down, and listen closely, as I tell a tale with no magic and folly. Brace yourselves for a wild adventure, with emeralds and diamonds, and a mysterious creature…"

"Lame," was all Torrin said as she took a spot on the snow covered sidewalk.

Rachael ignored the comment when she noticed that Shelby and Luke, both sitting down as well, were focused on her and her words alone.

Smiling, she began the tale.

"It all started on Mika's birthday…"


	2. Chapter 2

Rachael walked back to the stunned group, with a tray full of hot cocoa-filled mugs. They were at her house, now, sitting around the kitchen table. Her mother, being a nurse, didn't get home until late because of her shift. That meant they could talk about their situation freely without any worries of being overheard.

Shelby didn't say anything as her mug of hot cocoa was pushed in front of her. She just stared at the table like it was about to stand up and eat her.

Bridget saw this; in fact, everyone did. Problem was: they didn't know what to tell her.

Finally, Rachael said, "You will get to see Sonic, Shelby."

Shelby looked up at the sandy blonde-haired girl now sitting beside her. Those sapphire eyes were so full of confidence, and shone with such brilliant encouragement, that the brown haired girl couldn't help but smile.

Everyone else around the table started to smile as well…even Torrin felt a tug at the corners of her mouth. Rachael noticed this.

"Is that a grin I see?" she taunted, giving her own smirk.

A shadow overcame the tomboy's face as she scowled at the girl across from her. Luke decided to change the subject.

"So…we're actually going to go to Sonic's world?" he asked.

Bridget smiled widely. "Uh-huh! And to do that, we're going to have to go to Vero Beach and meet the guy who sent us the chaos emerald!"

Rachael nodded. "Because he sent us the emerald, we know that he has a connection with Sonic's dimension. How, we aren't sure. But what we do know is, is that we have to go there in order to save Raquel, Mika, and Michael."

An idea suddenly popped into Shelby's head. "Wait…you guys said you were taken to Sonic's dimension through your own Nintendo Gamecube…right?"

Rachael and Bridget nodded.

"Does that mean that anyone can do that?" she inquired.

Silence. Rachael and Bridget exchanged uneasy glances. In fact, everyone was giving uneasy looks. Until, a sudden and unfamiliar voice broke the silence.

"No, only you guys did."

Everyone jumped a foot in the air, and turned to see, standing in the kitchen doorway, a girl about their age. She had thin, straight, layered black hair and had bright green eyes. Her height was normal, but she held herself in a way that showed that she was one not to be messed with.

"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" Rachael asked, standing up from her chair.

"One at a time; there's no need to get panicky here…in fact, you guys should be thanking me," the girl said.

"Thanking you? Why?" Luke inquired.

The girl paused a moment. Finally, she said, "Give me a cup of hot cocoa, and I'll tell you."

The group looked to Rachael, but she didn't move. Her eyes showed a mixture of fear, and distrust, but finally, she complied.

The girl, meanwhile, walked over and sat herself down, while the others stared at her. She had acted as if she lived here all her life; like she owned the place or something. When the cup was put in front of her, she took it without saying 'thank you', and sipped it all up in one gulp. And once the empty cup was set on the table, she let out a breath of air. Then, only silence remained.

"Well…?" Bridget asked.

The girl leaned forward, but said nothing. Rachael put a hand on her hip.

"You got your hot cocoa. Now tell us who you are, how you got in here, how you know that we were the only ones able to go to Sonic's world—"

"Hold it!" the girl put her hand up in the air. "My brain can only take so many questions…"

"All right then," Torin decided to take matters into her own hands. "Who are you?"

The girl leaned back in her chair casually. "I'd save that question for last. It's special."

"Okay. How did you get in here?"

The girl's face scrunched up like that was the stupidest question. "Pssh! Like everyone else: through the front door!"

"But it was locked," Rachael informed.

A cocky smile. "Ah…yeah. That was a tough lock to do; got to hand it to ya, though: good security right there!"

Silence.

"Who are you?" Shelby inquired.

The girl stood up, that same smile on her face. "You can call me many things…but what I prefer is Shawon."

The group looked at each other. Shawon didn't seem to be a great name for a female…it didn't seem to be a name at all!

"So, Shawon…how do you know so many things?" Shelby asked.

"Like how your friends were the only ones who went to Sonic's world? Well…" Shawon gave that cocky smile again. "Let's just say I was the _reason_ they went there."

At this, Bridget stood up as well. "WHAT?!" she yelled.

Torin furrowed her eyebrows. "That's not possible. You can't control thunderstorms."

"You're right on that one…" Shawon began to walk around the table casually.

"Then how did you send us to Sonic's world?" Rachael inquired, almost dreading the answer.

Shawon stopped walking, turning to the group with a wide smile on her face.

"I know Chaos Control."

………………………………

Black. That was all she could see as she felt herself come back to reality. However, she wasn't even sure she knew what reality was.

_Ok…focus, Mika…_ she told herself. _No time to start panicking…I just need to remember…what happened?_

She searched through her brain, but could find nothing.

_Well, there goes that idea…what now? Wait! Is that…metal? Why am I laying on metal? Was I…unconscious?_

"MJ!"

At hearing that name, everything clicked. Flashes ripped through her mind of the fight, then of Bridget, then of Dr. Eggman, then of…

"Chaos control!" MJ exclaimed, sitting up. Her sky blue eyes were wide, and her breathing was heavy.

"AH!"

The seal's attention instantly flew to the white hedgehog who had fallen back in surprise. She couldn't help but smile sheepishly in embarrassment. "Sorry…"

Krystal sat back up, dusting herself off. "Don't worry about it….are you okay?"

MJ nodded. "Yeah…why?"

"You looked like you had a nightmare…"

The seal shook her head. "I didn't. I just remembered…everything…"

At this, Krystal lowered her head, her eyes to the floor.

MJ suddenly thought of something. "Hey! How come you're here? The only ones caught by Eggman was—"

"You and Michael?" Krystal nodded. "I decided to hitch a ride—I can't let some crazy scientist take away my two best friends, can I?"

MJ smiled. But the moment was instantly broke as the two heard a moan come from someone else in their iron cell. The voice sounded familiar.

"Michael?" they asked in unison, turning around.

There behind them lay a red echidna, who resembled Knuckles. The only difference was the crescent moon on his chest, which was down instead of up.

"It's Muscles!" Krystal gasped, upon remembering.

MJ looked at her friend, puzzled. "How do you know—?"

"Bridget and Rachael told me about him. Once all of us were together, we told our sides of the story…unfortunately, you were with Eggman at the time…" with a smirk, she added, "…getting smitten with Shadow…"

MJ blushed immensely. "Shut up!"

Krystal laughed. "Okay, okay…" she then cast a glance at the red echidna behind them.

MJ followed her gaze. "Do you think we should wake him up?" she whispered.

Krystal thought about this a moment. "We could…but I don't want him to have the scare of his life…"

The seal gave her friend a skeptical look. "If he wakes up on his own, he's ALSO going to have the scare of his life—it's inevitable."

"True…" the white hedgehog turned to MJ. "You wanna have the honors?"

"How about we both do it?"

"Deal."

The two began to silently crawl over to their slumbering friend as quietly as they could. MJ got on one side of Muscles, while Krystal got on the other.

"You ready?" MJ whispered.

Krystal nodded. "On the count of three…"

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

They took a deep breath, grabbing a hold of each of Muscles' arms, yelling, "WAKE UP, MICHAEL!"

Fantastic idea.

Amethyst eyes shot open. It only took a second, before screaming erupted from his mouth, and another second until he roughly pulled himself away from MJ and Krystal to stand up and face them.

Krystal and MJ covered their ears, wincing.

"Michael…SHUT UP!" MJ pleaded.

The screaming stopped. "You…you know me?"

"Of course! I'm Mika, remember?"

Muscles took a long time just staring at the white seal. He felt like she was right, but the evidence just seemed out of his reach. Finally, it began to come back to him.

His eyes widened. "No…but…you can't be…"

"Michael…this is what we looked like when we went to Sonic's World," Krystal said gently. "We were—and are—our fancharacters."

MJ nodded. "And likewise…so are you."

"What?" he said breathlessly. "What are you…" his voice trailed off as he saw his gloved hand.

A long silence settled in. Finally, he shook his head firmly. "No…I have to be dreaming…I can't really be Muscles! It's physically impossible!"

"Is Eggman appearing in OUR dimension possible?" MJ said in a firm tone.

Muscles hesitated. She was right… "But then where the heck are we that I can change into my fancharacter without knowing?"

"You're in my iron prison," said a familiar voice behind them.

All three turned around to see Dr. Eggman, in all his rotund malevolence, standing there outside their cell bars.

"Eggman!" Krystal exclaimed, standing up beside MJ on instinct.

"Yes…I think last time I checked I was known by that name…" Eggman replied wittily. He twirled his orange mustache with his finger absent-mindedly.

"Let us out, you creep!" MJ demanded. "You have no reason to keep us here!"

"Ah…but I do," the mad scientist replied, grinning. "I can't let you crossers ruin my scheme, can I?"

"Crossers?" Krystal repeated. "What are you--?"

"You aren't the only ones who have traveled from Earth to Mobius and back. There are others, as well," Eggman informed.

"What do you mean?" MJ questioned.

"Before your arrival 5 months ago…there were two other people who traveled from Earth to Mobius. They, too, helped stop one of my schemes…but that's another story—one that is currently told from generation to generation…people have named those two heroes the 'crossers', and ever since your adventure, they have also labeled you the 'crossers'. It's a name that is held with high respect, so be glad you can have such a title," Eggman informed.

Krystal and MJ exchanged glances. They weren't the only ones teleported to Sonic's world…but wasn't that by accident?

Eggman smirked. "But I guess the legacy of the Crossers is coming to an end…for how can you stop me this time if you're stuck behind bars?"

MJ growled. "We're not the only ones, you know! The others will be here—and they WILL stop you!"

Eggman chuckled, leaning closer. "I'd like to see them try…" With that, the fat scientist walked away, smiling to himself.

MJ scowled. "We have to escape…we can't let him win…" she muttered.

Krystal nodded in agreement. "We won't. If we are the so called 'crossers' we must live up to that title's reputation and destroy Eggman's latest plan!"

A small sound came from someone behind them. They turned to see Muscles standing there, wide eyed. Throughout the entire conversation, he had said nothing. They almost forgot he was there!

"Muscles…" Krystal began. She took a glance at MJ, before walking up to the red echidna, the seal by her side.

"We need you, Muscles," MJ informed. "You're going to have to escape with us."

Muscles looked at the seal in the eyes, his amethyst ones showing his uneasiness. "I didn't ask for this…"

"Fate has a mind of its own," Krystal said. "We don't ask for what it brings—we just have to accept it."

Silence settled in as Muscles thought much about his current situation. He was stuck in a world that he had only dreamed about going to, and the only way to get back was to go on what would probably be a life-threatening adventure. A responsibility that he didn't want was also thrust upon his shoulders. Mobius' fate was in his hands—it was up to him, a new addition to the 'Crossers', and the others, to stop a mad scientist's scheme of world domination. That was a big weight. But a question soon aroused within.

"Will Sonic be here to stop Eggman?" Muscles asked quietly.

Krystal nodded. "Most likely. Wherever that creep is, Sonic is sure to be."

"Then can't HE take care of it while we focus on trying to get back?"

"MUSCLES!"

The red echidna was surprised at the scolding tone MJ used. He looked at her fearfully.

"Are you listening to yourself? What kind of Crosser are you going to be if you don't help Sonic against Dr. Eggman? I've known you throughout this school year, and I know as much as you do how much you want the feeling of going on an adventure! Muscles, this is what you need! Don't turn down this once in a lifetime opportunity! Take a stand for all those people who live on Mobius! Not only that—but Earth, too! The thin veil that separated Earth from Mobius is broken because we are here! We have to do our part and help save our people! Don't be a coward and turn away from your destiny! You were born to do this, Muscles!"

MJ's voice echoed throughout the entire iron cell. She gave him a few minutes to let her words sink in, before she whispered, "You were destined to be a Crosser."

Muscles didn't respond as her words vibrated through his head. "But…" he finally muttered. "But I didn't ask for this…"

"Neither did we, Muscles," Krystal laid a hand on her comrade's shoulder. "You're not alone in facing that fact. We're here as much as you are; we're in the same situation that you are. Don't let doubt creep into your mind. We will always fight by your side."

With a smile, MJ added, "We're a team."

The seal's comment seemed to flick a switch in all of their hearts. They were a team. All three of them. Neither was in this more than the other; they were equal. They were one.

Krystal smiled, putting her hand out before her. "All in favor of busting this Egghead, put your hand in."

MJ put hers on top of the white hedgehog's hand. Then, Muscles laid his down. When the two looked up, they found a fire that wasn't there before alight in his eyes.

"Let's do it," Muscles said bravely.

Krystal and MJ smiled.

But something had happened in that room at that very moment, dear reader. Something spectacular. A bond was suddenly made—one that wouldn't break no matter what weight was put upon it. That was the bond of a true team. One with an unbreakable spirit.

And they were ready for anything.

**Author's Notes:**

**Crystal: Sorry, dear readers, for the unexpected shortness of this chapter. It was originally longer, but I decided to cut some of it out and place it at the beginning of the next chapter to make it flow better. Please forgive me.**

**Krystal: And the disclaimers will be at the end in the credits, just like it was for SAB2M. After all, this is a sequel. Its format will be the same as its prequel.**

**Crystal: Now, with all that said and done, I bid you adieu for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

Torrin sighed as she plopped down in the airplane seat. She pulled her headphones over her ears, leaning back and closing her eyes. A smirk slowly grew on her face as she heard someone sit down beside her. She didn't have to open her eyes to see who it was; she already knew. It was the exact person she had fiercely debated with to get the window seat.

"Enjoying the middle seat, Rachael?" she cocked one green eye open to see the sandy blonde haired girl glare daggers at her.

But the girl didn't respond, much to her surprise. She simply turned away, adjusting her bag full of things to entertain her during the plane ride under the seat in front of her.

"I'm just happy we get to go…" she muttered under her breath. She was glad Torrin had already begun to listen to her music—she hadn't heard her comment, even though it was true.

Each of them had to ask their parents if they would allow them—all of them—to go on a four day trip to Vero Beach. Some of the parents said that one of them had to go as chaperones—but otherwise, they agreed. It puzzled Rachael, though. Why would their families let them go almost _alone_ to a place that was _miles_ away? It didn't add up.

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her eyes trailed over to the black haired girl sitting in one of the seats across from them. She had to look over Bridget who was sitting right beside her, but she could see Shawon clearly. _Then again,_ she told herself silently, _nothing has been adding up lately since that girl arrived._

"Rachael-chan? Is something wrong?" Bridget used her new nickname for her friend.

Rachael turned her attention to her best friend, and whispered, "I don't think Shawon is telling us everything…"

Bridget nodded. "She barely told us anything! Right after she told us she knew chaos control, she refused to answer our questions until we reached Vero Beach!"

"I don't trust her…" the sandy blonde haired girl spat quietly.

Bridget looked at her friend with sympathizing eyes. "We have to, Rache…she decided our fate last time we went to Sonic's world—and I think she'll have a say in this one, too."

Rachael looked at her friend as she knew that was true. She leaned back, sighing. "I guess…"

"Don't worry, Rachael-chan," Bridget smiled. "Everything will be okay. You'll see. It always is."

Rachael smirked. "You're right, Bridge-chan…you're right."

"Everyone situated?" an adult male voice called. That was Bruce, Shelby's father, who had decided to join and be the chaperone for the trip.

Various chimes of "Yeah!" and "Uh-huh!" arose from the six children.

"Good!" he smirked. "Then let's get this show on the road!" With that, he sat down in the seats in front of Rachael, Bridget, and Torrin.

Luke, meanwhile, was gripping the armrests like they were life themselves. His eyes were closed tight, and his body rigged.

"What's the matter, Luke-boy?" Shawon asked from the window seat on his far right, chewing some gum nonchalantly.

Shelby turned to her, since she was sitting in the middle. "He hates airplanes…" she informed.

Shawon snickered, opening a magazine. "He's gonna need a lot of work if he wants to save Mobius and Earth…"

Shelby glared at her. "Not everyone can be as brave as you are, Shawon."

"Maybe…but they can learn to be," she smirked.

"You can't teach someone how to be courageous," Shelby pointed out.

Shawon parted from the magazine to look the 12-year-old in the eye. "There's a way, kid. You just don't know how."

"Don't call me 'kid'," Shelby replied through gritted teeth.

Shawon shrugged, turning a page in the magazine. "Whatever, kid."

Shelby let out a puff of air through her nose, before crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her seat. She wasn't really too fond of that Shawon-girl right now…

Suddenly, the seat-belt light turned on, indicating that all the airplane passengers should buckle up.

"Attention passengers. Thank you for choosing to ride AirTrans…" a female flight attendant's voice spoke through the speakers, continuing to explain what to do in an emergency. Everyone paid attention, since they knew that it was wise to do so. Well…everyone except Torrin and Shawon.

Once that was done, the captain came on the speakers, announcing, "We will now proceed to take off. Please fasten your seatbelts, and enjoy the ride."

Luke felt the plane move forward, and he gasped, closing his eyes tighter. Shelby could only laugh.

"Relax, Luke," she said. "We're only heading to the take-off strip; we're not gonna fly yet."

He seemed to settle a little bit, but was still tense. "I just hope nothing bad happens…" was all he could say.

Shelby laughed again. "You're not cursed," she said. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine, okay?"

Luke nodded, but was still stiff. Shelby shook her head, still amused.

But little did they know they were in for a big surprise on their way to Vero Beach.

It had been a couple hours into the flight. Many of the travelers were asleep, including Luke, Shelby, Bridget and Rachael. Torrin and Shawon had no interest in getting shut-eye at the moment.

But perhaps that was for the better…

"We are now nearing the Orlando Airport. Please buckle your seatbelts as we—"

All of a sudden, the pilot's voice was cut off, and silence took over the plane. Some people exchanged glances, and murmured to one and another. Torrin looked over at Shawon, who looked calm.

"We're sorry about that. A little technical difficulty, that's all," the pilot's voice came back on over the intercom.

Torrin scoffed.

"As we were saying, we are going to begin our descent shortly. Everyone please buckle your seatbelts and—"

Again, his voice was cut off.

Torrin raised an eyebrow, before putting her CD player away. Was something wrong…?

"Sorry to interrupt your flight, but we have an emergency."

That was a new voice. It was male, but totally different from the pilot's voice.

Shawon sat up as if she recognized the voice. Torrin was intrigued even more. What was going on?

Rachael had woken up in time to hear the new recent voice. She then began to wake up Bridget.

"What…? What's wrong, Rache?" Bridget yawned.

"I dunno—but something's up. They said there's an emergency," Rachael whispered.

Bridget's attention was caught, and looked up at the intercom, as if awaiting what they'd say next.

"I need a few people to come up her to the cockpit, if you would," the new voice continued. "Those people are all in the same group, so if you hear your name called, and then another name that you don't know, it's probably not you, for these people all know each other. They are: Rachael, Bridget, Luke, Torrin, and Shelby. You five please come to the cockpit immediately. Thank you."

And then the intercom was shut off.

Rachael and Bridget's eyes were wide. That was more than just a coincidence. Something was going on.

Rachael looked up into the seat in front of them. Bruce was asleep. Thank goodness.

"Would those five please come up here—this is an emergency!" it sounded like the male voice was getting urgent. "We won't land until you do!"

Murmurs raced across the plane from the passengers. It was evident fear was in the air.

"Well…best not keep the kind man waiting, eh?" Torrin stood up, beginning to step over Rachael and Bridget.

"What are you doing, Rin?" Rachael whispered. "We can't go up there—"

Shawon stood up, getting behind Rin. "You're friend is right, Rachael. We shouldn't keep him waiting." And with that, she pushed through Torrin, starting to head towards the front.

"Rachael…" Bridget whispered. "Shawon's name wasn't called. Why is she going up there?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Torrin asked, hearing the whisper. "She knows more than we do about our situation right now. She probably knows who called us. We should go up there."

Rachael and Bridget exchanged glances, as if debating, before finally nodding.

"Let's go…" Rachael replied, standing up. Bridget followed suit.

"Good. Took you long enough. Go wake the two sleeping heads while I head to the front," without waiting for an answer, Torrin made her way to the cockpit.

The murmurs got even louder when the passengers saw that the people needed were only kids and young teenagers.

"Oh, shut up!" Torrin shouted, turning around to face the passengers. Everyone silenced, before she turned around once more and continued her journey down the hall.

Rachael sighed. Torrin could be so rude at times… The sandy blonde haired girl then reached out, shaking both Luke and Shelby.

Luke was the first to awaken. "What…? What's the matter? Have we landed?" he yawned.

"No…but we're having some difficulties. We've been asked to come to the front," Rachael explained.

Luke groaned, still rubbing his eye to get the sleepy seeds out. "You've got to be kidding me…I knew I was cursed…"

It was at that time, Shelby woke up. "What did you say…?" her question came out muffled by her yawn.

"That I'm cursed…" Luke then told her what Rachael had informed him of.

"Really?" Shelby yawned once more. "Is my dad awake?"

"No, he's sleeping," Rachael assured.

The brown haired girl nodded. "Good…well, we might as well head up there, right?" Shelby didn't sound too sure of herself as she said that, but as she stood up, her confidence seemed to heighten.

Luke groaned. "What if its just a way to kidnap us or something…?"

"Shawon went up there, and her name wasn't called," Rachael informed. That seemed to say everything.

"Then let's get going," Shelby said.

Rachael nodded, turning to see Bridget had already walked to the front. She then began to trek up to the cockpit as well, Luke and Shelby following.

Everyone was uneasy as they entered the room. To their surprise, the pilot and co-pilot weren't tied up and gagged at all. They were merely having a friendly chat with the male who had used the intercom.

Once everyone was there, the man turned to the young teenagers, giving them a warm smile.

"Good…I knew you'd come…" he murmured, standing up. He walked over to the group, before saying, "It is a pleasure to meet you Crossers. My name is Dominic Hendricks, and…" he paused for a moment, as if analyzing them. "Isn't there three more of you?"

Bridget looked around. Obviously, Shawon had hidden herself in the shadows, and obviously, Dominic thought all five of them had been the original Crossers.

"Sorry, sir," Shelby spoke up. "But not all of us have been to…" She cast a glance at the pilots who seemed to be eavesdropping. "…the twin side." She dared not say 'Sonic's Dimension'. That would arouse a lot of attention.

Dominic furrowed his eyebrows. "I…I see…um…follow me. We have a private room in the back."

And with that, the dark brown haired man began to lead them down the hall once more to the back.

Shelby looked over, and saw that her father was still asleep. Convenient.

Upon reaching the room, everyone entered one by one. It looked like a small (very small) lounge quarters for the flight attendants.

Dominic shut the door behind them, turning on the lights. The children each sat in a chair around the small round table, and soon, Dominic seated himself in the chair at the front of the table.

"Now…please explain by what you mean that not all of you have been to Sonic's dimension…" he began.

"After you tell us if you were the person who sent us the letter to come to Vero Beach," Rachael spoke up.

"Yes. I was the person who asked you to come to Vero Beach. And, before you ask the other question, I was the person who sent you the chaos emerald, Bridget," Dominic told the blonde haired girl.

"What?! How do you know my name?" Bridget asked.

"I have to know your name to have sent you the letter, right?" Dominic replied.

"Yeah…I guess…" the blonde haired girl shrugged.

"Speaking of the jewel…do you have it with you?" the adult inquired.

Bridget nodded. "It's in my coat pocket."

"Good…because I have a feeling that you'll be heading to Sonic's world sooner than expected…" Dominic seemed distressed at that.

"But first, you need to answer some questions…" Shelby chimed in.

Dominic looked at his watch. "All right…but hurry. We have to get you to Sonic's world and back before this plane lands."

Silence.

"How in the WORLD do you expect us to cross dimensions in only a matter of minutes?!" Luke exclaimed.

Dominic sighed. "There's so much to explain…"

"Then allow me to help, Doc," came a familiar female's voice.

Dominic tensed up, sitting straight in his chair. "Shawon…what are you doing here?"

"Doing exactly what you're trying to do," the black haired girl stepped out from the shadows. She had followed them there. "Send them to Sonic's world so they can settle the balance and mend the veil."

"What is she talking about?" Shelby whispered to Bridget. The blonde haired girl could only shrug, as confused as her.

"But that's not the only thing we have to worry about…by now, the next game is set and is about to begin. They will have to go through that one as well," Dominic replied.

Shawon shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem. Not for them at least. After all, I'm going with them."

Dominic stood up. "No! You can't! You'll only disturb the veil even more!"

"No I won't. It's not like I'm going to another game that I wasn't created for. Besides, they need one more person. I have to go with them," Shawon answered.

The young teenagers exchanged glances. What in the world were they talking about…?

Dominic sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine…you can go…but if you pull anything off like you did before…"

"Dominic, I'm here so then my life can go back to normal…" Shawon informed. "I wouldn't do anything to make the situation worse—you know that." 

The artist couldn't disagree.

"Okay, can someone please tell us something that makes sense??" Torrin asked, getting agitated.

Dominic opened his mouth to reply, but Shawon quickly intervened. "There's no time. We must get to Sonic's side. Now."

Shelby's heart skipped a beat.

"What? Why?" Rachael asked.

"We've delayed this far enough as it is. The more we wait, the more the veil becomes unstable. Quickly, you must form teams of three," Shawon informed.

"Teams of three…?" Luke murmured. Why three?

Shelby's eyes widened as it dawned on her. "Sonic Heroes…" she whispered.

"Make teams NOW or else I will divide you guys by myself—and I won't acknowledge any complaints!" Shawon exclaimed, her voice becoming urgent.

Rachael stood up. "Me, Bridget and Rin will be a team. You, Luke and Shelby can be another. Sound good?"

"WHAT?!" Bridget and Torrin stood up at the same time, protesting loudly.

"SILENCE!" Shawon barked.

In a second, everyone was quiet, and staring at her with wide eyes. "Your friend made a quick decision—a decision that we need. Do not blame her. Now Bridget…the chaos emerald…"

The black haired girl held out her hand to take the amethyst gem. Bridget handed it over without question.

"We must hurry. When we arrive, our two teams will be separated. The teams must stick together, and follow the game if we want to meet up so then we can mend the Veil," Shawon instructed.

"Is anyone else besides me totally lost?" Bridget asked.

"All will be explained throughout our adventure. Right now what matters is getting to Sonic's world. Everyone gather around."

The two groups did as told by Shawon, gathering in a circle around her. 

"Good. Now let's get this party started," the black haired girl smirked, as her grip tightened on the emerald.

Then, her mouth opened as she cried, _"CHAOS CONTROL!"_

And in a flash of light, they were gone.

-

"So much for trying to escape…" Muscles muttered under his breath.

MJ sighed, leaning against the metal wall. That had been their fifth time in the last hour of trying to get out of Eggman's base…only to be caught again and thrown back into their cell.

"Well…any ideas?" Kristal asked, rubbing her arm where a bruise was forming.

The white seal shook her head. "None…"

"Maybe we should take a break…just…talk, you know?" Muscles suggested.

"What is there to talk about?" MJ questioned, a slight edge in her voice.

"Well…" the red echidna stood up. "For one, if we are a team…then we should have designated parts of the team."

Kristal was intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"We need a Speed person, a Flying person, and a Power person," Muscles explained.

MJ stood up. "He's right…"

"I can be Power," the brother of Knuckles continued. "But what about you two?"

"Neither of us can fly OR are really fast," Kristal murmured, discouraged.

MJ thought for a minute. "Well…remember Sonic Heroes?"

"Yeah?" both Kristal and Muscles chimed simultaneously.

"Amy and Espio were the Speed members of their team. Neither of them were very fast…but they could run faster than their other team members, and had the agility Speed required," MJ informed. She turned to her white hedgehog friend. "Kristal, you could be Speed, and I could be Flying."

"What? Why me?" Kristal stood up, confused.

"Think about it: you're attacks are similar to what a normal speed person's would be. And you're probably faster than me or Muscles…" MJ said.

Kristal thought about this for a moment. It could work… "But then, how can you fly?"

MJ smirked. "Easy. All we have to do is a little raid on Eggman's machinery wing. There should be a gadget I can use to fly."

Muscles grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Sounds good to me." 

Silence took over as Kristal thought for a moment. Then, she said, "Shouldn't we have a team name?" 

"Good point…" Muscles muttered.

The three instantly fell into a deep silence again, this time, thinking hard about what their team name should be.

Muscles finally got fed up with the silence. "Ah…who needs one, anyway?"

"It would be cool to have a team name…" MJ murmured under her breath.

Kristal heard what her friend had said. "We'll think of one later, okay?" she told her encouragingly.

MJ looked up, a bit meekly at first, but then she smiled, nodding. Her confidence returned.

"So…let's go do some raiding, what do you two say?" Muscles smirked.

Kristal and MJ looked at their team mate, smirking as well.

"Let's do it," MJ said.

And with that, all three of them headed to the front of their cell.

"Think you can break the lock?" Kristal asked Muscles.

"Psh…done it the other five times, haven't I?" the red echidna grinned, heading towards the lock.

"Wait!" MJ held out her hand to block her friend from breaking it.

"What is it?" Kristal inquired.

"Remember the last times we broke the lock? Each time, the alarm would sound. Deactivate the alarm before doing the lock," the seal advised.

Muscles smirked. "Smart thinking, M! Let's do it!"

"Allow me," MJ winked, before turning around towards the lock. After inspecting it closely, she noticed a few wires coming out from it that led upwards towards the ceiling.

The other two leaned in, and saw what their friend noticed.

"Should we cut it?" Kristal asked.

"No…" MJ shook her head. "The alarm would sound if we did. There should be an interval between when the alarm is on and off…"

"How will we be able to tell?" Muscles inquired.

"That's just it…" another shake of the head from the seal. "I don't think we will know." 

"Great, then how do we get out of here?!" the scarlet echidna stood up.

Kristal looked at the bars, before a smile spread on her face. "Hey, Muscles…think you're strong enough to put a big enough gap in these bars so we can get out?

Muscles' grin returned, and he cracked his knuckles. "No problem…"

With that, he stepped forward, a hand on each bar. Then, he gritted his teeth as he put all his strength into pushing the two metallic bars apart.

"Come on, Muscles…you can do it…" MJ whispered.

Kristal nodded. "We know you can…"

The echidna's arms began to shake from the force, but he kept pushing. Slowly, the bars began to bend.

"Yes! That's it! You're almost there!" MJ cheered quietly.

"You can do it!" Kristal added.

Muscles closed his eyes, putting in even more strength. To his relief, finally, the bars were wide enough. He let go, his arms dropping to his sides.

"Phew…what a work-out…" he panted, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Good job, Muscles! You did great," MJ and Kristal both gave their friend pats on the shoulder.

The echidna smiled. "No problem. Now let's get to that room."

The other two nodded. Kristal walked up to the spread bars, and poked her head out. She scanned the room for cameras. There were two, on both sides of the room, she discovered.

She watched them carefully. Both had a red light on them that went off every 30 seconds. But they only stayed off for 5 seconds.

"All right, guys…I'm gonna have to run both of you over one at a time. That okay?" she asked.

MJ and Muscles nodded.

"Take her first," the power member then added. "I'll wait."

MJ turned to him. "You sure?"

Muscles smiled. "Positive."

"Okay…" Kristal nodded, taking MJ's hand. She then looked out again, waiting for the red light on both cameras to shut off. As soon as it did so, she ran across as fast as she could. It wasn't as fast as Sonic or Shadow, but it was fast enough. As soon as she got across, she had to wait for the light to turn off again, before running back for Muscles. In no time, all three were out of the cell room.

"Piece of cake," Muscles smirked, licking his lips.

Kristal chuckled.

"Let's keep moving," MJ suggested, and the group did so.

Ever so silently, they stalked down the halls, keeping to the shadows. Everything was going by smoothly, and soon, they found themselves in the machinery room.

Muscles couldn't suppress a whistle. "Wow…that Egghead sure has a lot of gadgets…"

The room was full of them. There were tables and tables filled with little pieces of machinery—there were even hooks on the walls that held up neat kinks.

"Let's stay focused," MJ reminded. "You two wait here while I go get what I need."

Kristal and Muscles nodded.

"Be careful," Kristal whispered.

The seal winked, before jogging off to find the device she was looking for. She passed table after table, but none seemed to hold what she wanted. After about three rows, she was beginning to get the idea Eggman might not have created it…

But then, she saw it. She smiled, walking over to the table. "Perfect…"

To the ordinary eye, it would look like a normal pair of tennis shoes. But in actuality, it was a gravity-defying mechanism. She knew the madman had this invention—she had overheard him talking about it. The seal smirked, kneeling down on the ground and taking off her old shoes. As she slipped the new ones on, she felt something hard in them.

"What…?" MJ took off the tennis shoe, looking inside to find two bracelets. She gently grabbed them with her hand, taking them out. They were light blue wrist bands. "Huh…I wonder what these are for…" she murmured.

With a shrug, she continued to put on the shoes. She smiled. They looked almost exactly like her old ones, except on the bottom it was grey, and in the back, they were raised up a tiny bit, with a green light in it. Then, the seal looked at the two bands in her hand. She could put them on…

Oh, why not? With an adventuring smile, MJ slipped the two bands on her wrists. As she stared at her left wrist, she suddenly remembered that she didn't have Shadow's bracelet on her. She had dropped it when they had been kidnapped. MJ sighed sadly, remembering home. She closed her eyes to calm herself, before opening her eyes with a new determination.

"All right…I'm already to go…I just wish I knew how these things worked…" she muttered the last part to herself.

"MJ!" the seal's head snapped up, hearing Kristal call her name desperately. She ran with all her strength to where the door was, only to find her two teammates captured by Eggman's little red robots, and the scientist himself standing there, looking smug.

"Well, well, well…trying to get away, are you? How cute…" Eggman grinned.

Before the seal could react, two other little pudgy robots grabbed onto her arms, capturing her as well.

She scowled.

They had been captured. Again.


	4. Chapter 4

"You are going to die a very slow, and a very _painful death_, you hear me, '_Shani_'?"

Of course that's what every girl wanted to hear from their teammate, right? Yeah...of course...

But Shani--as she was now, a light blue hedgehog with green eyes--only smiled teasingly. "Hee hee...why you mad at me? It's not my fault we're chosen to save the 'veil,' Jade~!"

Jade, as she was known before as Torrin, crossed her neon-green furred arms over her chest, and glared sourly as Shani did cartwheels in front of her. "You idiot--technically it _is_ your fault! After all, you're a Crosser! _That's _why we're chosen!" When Shani seemed to ignore her and continue her acrobatic movements, Jade then looked to the ground and kicked some of the grass in agitation. "I don't even know why I'm here...I wasn't here last time--"

"Well, there's a first for everything," said Rachael, who was now 'Cocoa,' as she walked past Jade to stand in between her two teammates so both could see her. Turning to look evenly at Jade with her hands on her hips, she added, "So you're here whether you like it or not--and if you cherish everything you love, then you'll do your best to save the 'veil' and be a help to this team."

Jade glared at Cocoa, but said nothing.

Shani, who seemed to have finished her fun for the moment, bounced over to Cocoa's side. "You know...I just thought of something~"

"Hm? What's that?" Cocoa raised her eyebrows slightly at her younger friend.

"What will happen when Sonic and the others see you, Cocoa-chan?" Shani frowned in thought as she spoke. "I mean...last time you were here, you were Maya Eva, right? And now you're Cocoa. So..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Cocoa muttered. From the look on her face, it appeared she was troubled about that question as well, but didn't want to think too much on it. ...why? Jade couldn't help but wonder.

"Well," Cocoa clapped her hands loudly, bringing her team's attention back to her. "First things first--let's assign positions. We've all played Sonic Heroes, right?"

"Affirmative."

"Mm-hmm~!"

Cocoa smiled. "Great, that makes my job easier." Rolling back and forth on the heels of her feet, she said, "I'm guessing...Shani should be speed. I remember last time we were here, and you and Jade had that race in Station Square and you _left me behind_." At that, she pointedly glared at Shani, who only nervously laughed in return, before going back to thinking. "And...Jade, since you're an echidna, you automatically are stronger than either of us. You'd probably be power."

Shani frowned. "But...Cocoa-chan, can you fly?"

A twinkle seemed to form in Cocoa's beautiful sapphire eyes. "Why yes. And I'll show you later, when the time comes. You'll see."

Shani smiled widely, until a sudden wind blew by, knocking her flat on the ground, and making Cocoa and Jade nearly do the same. Unfortunately, another strong burst of wind flew from the other direction immediately after, and Jade and Cocoa then found themselves face-down as well.

Spitting out grass, Jade pushed herself to her knees, cursing loudly. "What. The. Heck?!"

A nervous laugh. "My bad, ladies." A gloved hand suddenly appeared in the cover of her view. "Want a hand up?"

"Sonic, we don't have time for being a gentleman! Get your butt over here!"

_Sonic...?_ Jade could hardly believe her ears.

"C'mon, Knux. We can spare at least a few minutes. Chill a little."

Shani hopped to her feet quickly, immediately. Her eyes were wide with glee, and she gave the other, darker blue hedgehog no sign of warning until after she had tackled him in a huge hug. "Ohmigosh Sonic Sonic Sonic Sonic Sonic! It's been forever since I last saw you! I can't believe it! This is totally great!"

Cocoa stood up, dusting herself off and smiling. Jade followed suit--except didn't do the latter. She could only stare in astonishment at the three newcomers.

"Shani? Shani, holy emerald--is that seriously _you_?"

"Like, duh it is! Who else do you know that's as cool and blue besides you and me?"

But then, as soon as both of the hedgehogs stood up, a blur of yellow tackled the lighter one right back down. "Shaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The girl only laughed, hugging the kitsune that was on top of her tightly. "Tails! Ohmigosh, have you grown taller?"

The 8-year-old laughed, nodding. "I did, actually! I did!"

Jade watched with wide eyes. It seemed...all like it was out of a dream...or something similar of a sort. A wonderful, wonderful dream...

"So, Shani. What brings you back to our side of the coin, my main gal?"

Every move he made--every sound that came from his throat...it was hard to believe that it was actually Sonic the Hedgehog. In the flesh. In front of her. And not just on a television screen.

As Shani explained the situation to Sonic, Tails, and even Knuckles (who looked like he was grudgingly listening), Cocoa nudged Jade with her elbow. "Cat got your tongue?" she asked with a smirk.

Jade glared in return, before crossing her arms over her chest and returning her gaze to the team in front of them. "No...I'm just...shocked."

"That's how it was for me my first time, here." Looking back on it, Cocoa laughed outright. "I'll tell you now, you're taking it a lot better than me. Poor Knuckles...I didn't stop screaming for the longest time--I probably made his ears bleed." And despite the prospect being...well, harmful to said echidna, Cocoa seemed highly amused.

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Well...then why aren't you saying 'hi' to them again?"

Cocoa shrugged. "They don't recognize me. If I were Maya Eva, that would be different. But at the moment...I'm not. I'm someone else."

Now it was Jade's turn to shrug. "You're still you. And as far as I know, your voice is the same. They'll be able to see its you in a jiffy."

Cocoa smiled wistfully. Without a conscious effort, her eyes slowly drifted to the red echidna, who's expression was hard as he listened to Shani. She watched him a moment, quietly. And then... "Hmmmm...maybe."

-

"...what..."

"...the..."

"...heck?"

Flabbergasted, Kristal held up the strange, black lolita dress in her hands. MJ, who sat to her right, had her jaw almost to the floor. Muscles, on the other hand, who sat to her left, scrunched up his nose.

"W-who sent this?"

To answer the seal's question, Kristel pulled the dress aside and looked at the box in which they had found it in. Turning it over and over with her hand, she said in dismay, "...it doesn't say."

When she turned it upside down to look on the back, a note fell out of the box as well. Muscles was quick to put it up and open it to read. His eyes skimmed over it at first, before his face took on a weird look, and said, "...MJ...whoever sent this says it's for you."

MJ's face flushed--then grew pale--then flushed again. Flinging out her hand quickly, she cried, "Gimme that!" And Muscles did exactly so.

_This dress is for the one named MJ. I made it specifically and especially for her. It was designed for no other, so it will fit no one else. _

_Merry Christmas._

Putting a hand to her face, MJ groaned. "This is so bizarre...how did this get passed Eggman?"

"Maybe he sent it himself."

MJ wacked Muscles mercilessly with the small note in her hand. Her face was beat red. "You shut up! There's no way in _heck_ Eggman sent this! That'd be disgusting! Revolting!" Finally giving up her retaliation, she shuddered. "Ewwwwwwww..."

Kristal snickered, holding the lolita dress up for more inspection. "Well...whoever made it _did_ have good tailoring skills, I can tell you that much. It looks like what you'd by in a store."

MJ still looked disgusted. "I'm still not wearing that thing...I don't care who it's from. It's...ew."

Muscles couldn't help but still laugh. "You've got a secret admirer among Eggman's fleet, MJ. What if it's a robot?"

"Ewwwwwwww! That's even _more_ disgusting! Cut that out, Muscles!"

-

_"Ewwwwwwwww! That's even _more_ disgusting! Cut that out, Muscles!"_

He listened to her voice, feeling a chord somewhere in his body snap in two. She did sound utterly repulsed...he should have known better that she wouldn't just accept a gift from an anonymous person.

_"You sure you don't want to try it on, MJ?"_

_"I'm positive! Don't you think it's just a bit creepy?"_

_"About what?"_

_"Duh, Kristal! Someone knows my exact measurements! That's...a little beyond unnerving!"_

Maybe he had been a bit too forward. But he thought she would have liked the dress...it's what most women liked, right? And he wanted to be different and not use the typical roses...

_"I'm not just gonna wear a dress made by a stalker! Maybe it has a tracking device on it or something!"_

_"...um, MJ, he wouldn't need a tracking device if he already knows you're in Eggman's prison and can't escape."_

_"Well, aren't you just full of it, Muscles."_

Maybe he should have used the roses...

_"Anyone know what time it is?"_

_"No...we...haven't really known what time it is. Like, ever. Eggman doesn't put windows in his jails, unfortunately."_

There was peace and quiet for a moment, before the seal (whose voice he most desired to listen to) spoke up again.

_"...I miss it."_

_"Miss what?"_

_"The sky. The sun...I mean, isn't it just a little sad? Here we are...in a flying fleet. We're _in_ the sky. But yet...we are denied of seeing it."_

_"You're right..."_

_"I-I'm sorry. I should have said nothing. Now I got us all sad--heh heh, sorry guys."_

_"Nah, don't be. We're your friends, right? You can say anything to us--sad or happy."_

_"Mm-hmm, what Muscles said."_

_"Thanks, guys."_

He listened emotionlessly. She wanted to see...the sky? Oh yes, that was quite do-able for him. Yes, yes, he could do that...

But for her. Only her.

-

**Author's Note:** Oh holy cow I know a whole BUNCH of people won't be satisfied with this chapter. I just _know_ it, so I apologize HIGHLY beforehand. It's been hard to find motivation to write this story, mainly because of all the goings-on of my life. But, I'm not giving it up. There's too much to write here. So...I'll continue to update. Hopefully more frequently.

But plz review? Even if you hate me for not including Shawon, Shelby, and Eclipse in this chapter? (hands out cyber treats to all unsatisfied fans)

Gomennasai!


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